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(Model.) 3 SheetB-She' 1.

G. MNISINI.

AUTOMATIC POUCH T013*J CARTRIDGES.

` No. 457,053. Patented Aug. 4, 1891.

Wines/Ses:

(Model.) 3 Sheets-#Sheet 2,

G. -MINISINL AUTOMATIC POUCH TCR CARTRIDGES.

No. 457,053. Patented Aug. 4, 1891.

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' (Model.)

G. MINISINI. AUTOMATIC POUCH POR CARTRIDGES.

No. 457,053. Patented Aug. 4, 1891.

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` UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GASPARE MINISINI, OF TURIN, ITALY.

AUTOMATIC POUCH FOR CARTRIDGES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 457,053, dated August4, 1891. Application filed March 31, 1890. Serial No. 346,135. (Model.)

To all 1072.077?, it may concern.:

Beit known that I, GASPARE MiNIsINI, a citizen of Italy, residing atTurin,in the county of Turin and Kingdom of Italy, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Automatic Pouches for Cartridges; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the-inven tion, such as willenable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the Same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings and to letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

The invention relates to cartridge-holders or boxes adapted to besuspended from a Waist-belt; `and it has for its object to provide suchboxes with means whereby one cartridge after another is fed to andpresented at the delivery end of the box ready for withdrawal, thefeeding` mechanism being operated bythe delivery-tube.

The invention has for its further object to provide means for lockingthe cartridge in the delivery-tube to the latterand in combiningtherewith means for automatically releasing the said cartridge when thetube is in a given position, wherebyrthe feed mechanism will be operatedby the withdrawal of a cartridge.

The invention has for its further object to providea closedcartridge-box for the purpose of excluding moistureV therefrom and toprovide means for preventing the cartridges therein from accidentallyfalling out should the box be left open, the retaining devices being,however, of such a nature as to permit the Withdrawal of the cartridgesby hand by the application of sufficient power.

To these ends the invention consists in the construction of thecartridge-box; in the combination therewith of a travelingcartridgecarrier, a delivery-tube, and means for feeding the cartridgessuccessively to said tube; in mechanism for operating the feeding de-Vices through the medium of f the deliverytube; in locking devices forlocking a cartridge to the tube, and in automatic releasing devicesoperating to release the cartridge in the tube whenever the latterreaches a given position in the delivery-chamber of the cartridge-box,so that the feeding mechanism will be operated by the withdrawal of acartridge from the feeding-tube, and, lastly, it consists in structuraldetails and combinations of co-operative parts, as will now be fullydescribed, reference being had to the and its support being removed toshow the chain-propelling mechanism.

the box removed, and a rear elevation with the rear wall of said boxremoved. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the support for the endlesscartridge-carrier with the said carrier u Fig'. 9 is a left-hand eleva-Aapplied thereto. tion of the delivery-tube, and Fig. 10 'is aperspective View of the feed-lever;

Figs. 6 and 7' area front elevation with the front wall of tridge-box,which in form and size differs but slightly from those heretofore used,andkis also slightly curved, so as to adapt itself to the waist of themarksman. The cartridge-box may be constructed of anysuitableniaterial-as, for instance, of sheet metal or other suitablematerial*and if made of metalisV preferably lined with a non-metallic orsound'- deadening lining b', of leather, felt, or other suitablematerial, to prevent the noise or rattling of the cartridges in theirmovement to the delivery end of the box.

To prevent injury to the ends of the cartridge-box and increase itsdurability said ends are preferably of curvilinear form-as, forinstance, semi-cylindrical--to avoid sharp angles, liable to injury orindentation by con` tact with hard substances-as, for insta-nce, the gunof the marksman. The cartridgebox is also provided with loops?) for thewaistbelt, a number of such boxes being strung to said belt, if desired,and with a lid B', hinged thereto, so as to open toward the body of themarksman, said lid being held closed by any suitable means. The bottomB3 of the cartridge-box is so arranged relatively to the ver- IOO 75 Inthe above drawings, B indicates the carf tical walls that the latterwill project beyond said bottom, said walls forming a guard to protectsaid bottom from injury.

At the right-hand or delivery end the car- 5 tridge-box B has anapproximately semi-cvlindrical chamber B2 and vertical recesses b2 b2 onopposite sides thereof, said chamber B2 terminating on top of thecartridge-box with a cross-head B4, that has a cylindrical opening and aradial slot b4 in register with the recesses b2 b2, respectively. Thechamber B2 has near its lower end adeli very table or shelf b, ontowhich the cartridges are diverted as they pass in front of said chamberthrough the medium of a spring-actuated guide lever 0r finger F, pivotedin a bearing f on the under side of the top of the cartridge-box at thedelivery end thereof.

The delivery-tube T has a portion of its lower end, facing thecartridge-box B, cut away, as shown at t2, Fig. 9, so that when saidtube is pulled out to its full extent a fresh cartridge may enter thechamber and tube. On one side the tube T has a lug t, that projectsintothe vertical radial recess b2 of the chamber B2, to which lug is securedone end of the actuating cord or chain C, that actuates the feedingmechanism, hereinafter to be described, the said chain passing under aroller B5 at the foot of the recess and around guide studs or lugs b2projecting from the bottom of the cartridge-box.

On the opposite side of tube T is pivoted a catch or pawl P, the nose pof which projects into the tube through a slot formed therein, said pawlbeing arranged within the vertical radial recess b2 of chamber B2, andserves to support a cartridge in the tube when the latter is pulled outof its chamber. On the same side the tube T is provided with atwo-armedlever L, fulcrumed to said tube at Z2, the upper arm L being providedwith a lug or nose l, that projects into the tube through a suitableslot. The lower longer arm L2 of thelever Lhas a stop-shoulderZ2,adapted to contactwith an abutment-screw s, that projects into thevertical lateral recess h2 of the chamber B2, to prevent the tubeTfrombein g drawn ontof said chamber. The arm L2 of lever L is bentoutwardly, so that when the tube T is pulled out of its chamber B2 theinclined upper face of the abutment Z2 of the lever-arm L2 will contactwith the abutment s, and force said arm inwardly and thereby withdrawthe lug or nose Z from the tube to release the cartridge therein. Aspring S,secnred to lever-arm L2, has bearing on the pawl P, and forcesthe same inwardly, so that the shoulder p of said pawl is always inposition to move under the flange of a cartridge and support the same.In asmuch as the pawl P is held in its operative position by a yieldingpressure it is readily displaced by a cartridge in chamber B2, andpressed outwardly thereby to allow the tube T to return into its normalposition and to allow the nose or shoulder p of the pawl to engage thebutt or flange end of said cartridge, the shelf or table b being of lesswidth than said butt or flanged end of a cartridge.

The feeding mechanism is arranged on the bottom of the cartridge-box andconsists of the following instrumentalities: On a pin p, projecting fromthe bottom B3 of the cartridgebox B is pivoted a lever A,thatismaintained in a normal position by means of a spring S', and isconnected by means of a rod or link c with the actuating-chain C, whoseother end is secured to tube T, as hereinbefore stated. Upon a pin P2 ispivoted a bell-crank lever P', that is connected wit-h the lever A bymeans of a connecting rod or link P2, pivoted to an arm a of lever A,and to the arm p2 of bellcrank lever lP. On the pivot of the rod P3 isloosely mounted the feed-lever M, that is constructed in the form of ahook-that is to say,

the feed or actuating portion of the lever' is bent at right angles toform' the upwardlyprojecting hook m, the end of which is bent at rightangles to form a flange m', that lies under the arm p2 of bell-cranklever P.

As shown at-m2 in Fig. 5, the feed-lever M is curved so that as itrecedes from the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5 to that shownin full lines in said figure the lever, in passing the head of achain-link pivot, will be moved inwardly or toward the pivot of thebell-crank lever, and so as to again assume its normal position behindthe chain-link pivot as soon as said feed-lever has passed saidchain-link pivot ready to carry the same along when the chain C is againpulled upon.

The cartridges are contained in pockets d, open at top and front andforming the links of an endless-chain carrier D. The pivots for twosuccessivelinks consist of an inverted- U-shaped staple, the lowerprojecting ends of which are preferably secured to a small cylindricalblock or tube d2, which blocks or tubes form feet on which the chain issupported and with which the pawl p2 engages to move said chain. Thechain-links are constructed of thin sheet metal, and the sides of thepockets near the bottom are crimped or bent inwardly, as shown at cl2,to prevent the cartridges from accidentally falling out; but as the sidewalls of `the pockets are more or less elastic the cartridges can bereadily withdrawn by pulling upon them with sufiicient force to causesaid side walls to yield. The endless chain D is supported and guided bya plate E, that has a foot-flange e on its under side of sufficientheight to support said plate above the feeding devices, and from theupper face at a proper distance from its edges projects a vertical guideflange or wall e of the same curvature as the box B, and, as shown, thechamber formed by said vertical wall is preferably divided into pocketse2 for the reception of an additional number of cartridges.

The supporting-plate E has at its righthand end a slot c3, in which theactuatinglever M works, said lever projecting slightly above the upperface of plate E, so as to en- IOO , rectly from the carrier-chain.

'endless chain, the opposite end of said chain gage the foot (Z2 of thelink-pivots. From the upper face ot' the plate E project two guideiangesE E2, forming between them and the central wall e shallow guide-groovesfor the foot d2 of the pivot-links, so as to guide the chain properlyand hold the same to the guide-wall c. The liange E2 has' its righthandend bent outwardly to permit full play to the actuating-lever M; butsaid flange E2 may be dispensed with.

The supporting plate E may be loosely seated in the cartridge-box B, orit may be detachably connected therewith, so that it may readily beremoved, it' necessary, and so as to permit of the removal of thecartridges di- This may be done by means of a hook-bolt O sliding in akeeper on the bottom of the cartridge-box and projecting through anLslot o in the plateE at one end, the opposite end of said plate havingbearing under the shelf or delivery-table b of the delivery-chamber B2.At the left end of the plate E a curved retaining-liange etprojects fromthe upper edge of the guidewall e', that prevents the displacement ofthebeing held `against such displacement by means of any suitabledetachable'or yielding retaining device-as, for instance, by means of aspring s2, as shown.

The delivery of the cartridge is eiected as follows: Suppose thedeliverytube to be empty and the lever M in contact with the foot d2 ofone of thechain-link pivots. By pulling the delivery-tube T out of itschamber B2 until the shoulder Z2 contacts with the abutment s' the chainC will draw the lever A toward the right against the stress of itsspring S', and through the link p2 the bellcranklever P and lever M arecaused to make a quarter-turn (more or less) toward the left and front,thereby moving the endless chain a corresponding distance, which inpractice is so adjusted as to bring a pocket or cell d in' front ofchamber B2 at each movement of the pawl. As the cartridge passes infront of the chamber B2, the spring-linger F stops its further movement,and as the chain completes its motion the finger guides the cartridgeinto the chamber B2, and the lower end of tube T, which, as heretoforestated, has its side fronting the endless chain cut away. If the tube 'lis now released, the spring S will return the,

bell-crank lever P', the lever M, and the deliverytube T into theirnormal positions, the said lever M moving inwardly in passing by thenext chain-link pivot, and is thrown behind the same by a spring M assoon as it has passed the said pivot, ready to move the chain forwardagain. As the delivery-tube reaches its normal position the catch orpawl P, pressed outwardly by the cartridge, springs under the same andsupports it. The delivery-tube being now loaded, if again pulled out asecond cartridge is fed to the chamber B2 below the rst one, and uponthe release of the tube the said first cartridge is pushed up by thesecond one, so as to project from the upper end of the tube sufficientlyto catch hold of the same. Thencetorward, instead ot pulling upon thetube the projecting cartridge is pulled upon for the twofold purpose offeeding a third cartridge to the chamber B2 and for removing thecartridge from the delivery-tube.

As hereinabove stated, the cartridge is held against removal by the lugor nose Z on lever L, and such cartridge is automatically released bythe contact of the abutment Z2 of the longer arm L2 of said lever withthe abutment-screw s. It will thus be seen that the removal of acartridge after the deliverytube is once loaded feeds thereto anothercartridge, ready for removal. The last cartridge can of course not beremoved from the tube except by holding the same upside down. When thebox is not in use, the delivery end of tube T is closed by a plug G,that is connected with the box by a small chain. The spring M', thatacts upon the feed-lever M to return the same into its normal positionwhen moved out of it by contact with the foot of a chain-link pivot, issecured at one end to the bottom of the cartridge-box and its free endhas bearing on the outer end of said lever.

Although I have described a feed mechanism and a construction ofcarrier-chain that will answer the purpose, I do not desire to limitmyself thereto, as the construction of both may be varied withoutdeparting from the nature or spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is l. The combination,with a cartridge-box provided at one end with a delivery-chamber and adelivery-tube having Vertical motion in said chamber, of anendless-chain cartridgecarrier, a propelling mechanism operating on thechain to move the same, a connection between the delivery-tube andpropelling mechanism, and a yielding diverting-finger operating on thecartridge to divert the same from the chain carrier to the delvery-chamber as said cartridges move in front of it, for the purpose set forth.

2. A cartridge-box constructed of sheet-V metal and of segmental form,the ends of the box being rounded, a substantially semi-cylindricaldelivery-chamber at one end of the box, a lining of non-metallicmaterial for said boX, a lid, and loops for the reception of awaist-belt, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with a cartridge-box, of an endless-chaincartridgecarrier, the links of which. chain form pockets for thecartridges, and an elastic retaining device operating to prevent thecartridges from falling out, for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination, with a cartridge-box, of a central chambered guideprovided with cells for cartridges, and an endless-chaincartridge-carrier adapted 'to move around said guide, for the purposeset forth.

5. The combination, with a cartridge-box provided with adeliverychamberat one end l'OO IIO

and a delivery-tube having vertical motion in said chamber, of anendless-chain cartridge-carrier,apropellingmechanism forsaid chain, aspring connected with the propelling mechanism and operating to returnthe same to a normal position when moved out of it, a connection betweenthe propelling mechanism and delivery-tube for actuating said mechanismwhen motion is imparted to the tube, and a diverting elastic finger infront of the -delivery-chamber, operating to divert the cartridges fromthe chain into the chamber, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

6. The combination, with a cartridge-box, of the endless-chaincartridge-carrier, the links of which are constructed to form pocketsopen at top and front, the sides of said pockets being constructed ofelastic sheet metal and provided near the bottom with aninwardly-projecting rib, substantially as andforr the purpose set forth.

7. The combination, with a cartridge-box, of the supporting-plate E,provided with a central chamber of the same configuration as lthe boX,an endless-chain cartridge-carrier adapted to move around said chamber,the link-pivots of said chain projecting below the link-pockets andhaving bearing on plate E, and a propelling mechanism located below theplate and comprising a spring-controlled lever projecting through andworking in a slot at one end of the plate and adapted to engage the footof the chain-link pivots, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

8. The combination, with a cartridge-box provided at one end with adelivery-chamber B2, the supporting-plate E, provided with the centralguide-chamber, and an endless cartridge chain carrier adapted to movearound said central chamber, the link-pivots of said chain projectingbelow the link-pockets and having bearing on the supportingplate, of afeed mechanism consisting of a spring controlled feed -lever projectingthrough and working in a slot at the delivery end of thesupporting-plate and adapted to engage the foot of the chain-linkpivots, a

delivery-tube having vertical motion in the delivery-chamber B2, and aconnection between the tube and spring-controlled feedlever, adapted tooperate said lever when the tube is moved upwardly in its chamber,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

9. The combination, with the cartridge-box B, provided at one end withthe deliverychamber B2, of a delivery-tube having vertical motion insaid chamber and a spring-controlled catch or pawl pivoted at the footof the tube and projecting into the same, /for the purpose set forth.

l0. The combination, with the cartridgebox B, provided at one end withthe deliverychamber B2 and an abutment arranged near the upper end ofsaid chamber, of adeliverytube having vertical motion in said chamber, alever fulcrumed to the tube and provided at one end with a stop-shoulderadapted to engage the said abutment, and at the other with a lug or noseprojecting into the tube and adapted to engage the liange of a cartridgeth crein, thelower arm of said lever bent outwardly so as to engage theabutment to release the cartridge when said tube is moved up, for thepurposes set forth.

1l. The combination, with theA cartridgebox provided at one end with adeliverychamber and an abutment near the upper end of said chamber, ofthe feed-tube T, the catch or pawl P, pivoted to the lower end thereof,the nose of said pawl projectinginto the tube, and the lever L, alsopivoted to said tube, the upper arm of Which lever is provided with alng or nose projecting into the tube and the lower arm of said leverwith a stop-shoulder, said lower arm being bent outwardly, and a springon said lower arm having bearing on the catch or pawl P, for thepurposes set forth.

In testimony whereof l affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. GASPARE MINISINI. XVitnesses:

ENG. MAZETTA, Jr., QUAGLIOTH GiovANNi.

